Known for its frequent U-turn on important issues, the Telugu Desam Party on Saturday took yet another U-turn on the implementation of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill in the country.
The TDP voted in favour of CAA during the last parliament session in both the Houses in an apparent bid to get closer to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
However, after watching the nationwide protests against the CAA and realising that the party might get distanced from the minorities, the TDP has now changed its stand again.
TDP parliamentary party leader and Guntur MP Galla Jayadev told the reporters in Guntur that the TDP had supported the CAA as it did not find any faults in the bill then, as it talked about minority communities in three Islamic countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who had taken refuge in India.
“But after that when the central government brought out NRC, we have realised that it is dangerous and is shooting at the religious Muslim minorities of India. As of now NRC had introduced in the state of Assam itself, but it might be done across the country. If CAA and NRC are implemented together, there are huge chances of misusing the same,” he said.
"According to the act, a non-Muslim can get a fast track citizenship even if he/she fails in subjecting proper proofs and documents. But it won’t work in the case of minority Muslims. Hence, these minority Muslim People will be kept in the detention camps already constructed,” he said, adding that the TDP would strongly condemn the same.
“Unless the minority Muslims are given confidence and there will be no threat to original inhabitants of the country by the Central government, we won’t support the move of CAA,” he said.
